xix, 253 pages : 24 cm

Situated in a fertile valley overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Yavneel is one of the oldest farming communities in modern Israel, founded at the turn of the century by settlers from Eastern Europe. Dedicated to the early Zionist ideal of pioneering labor and reclamation of the land, the old settler families evolved into a unique new Jewish yeomanry with deep ties to agriculture and a strong sense of relatedness to place alien to their Diaspora past

Today, however, this rural village has become a microcosm of Israeli society at large, reflecting its social, religious, economic, ethnic, and ideological conflicts as well as the competing claims to its national history, memory, identity, and founding myths. The dynamic interaction of the diverse components of this complex society is brought into bold relief in this lively and illuminating book

The decision of a group of Bratslav Hasidim to settle in Yavneel in 1986 is the focal point around which Zvi Sobel examines the role and practice of religion in the village, exploring in vivid detail the social, ethnic, and ideological tensions among its diverse inhabitants and communities - the established core of settler-farmers; "newcomers" such as the edot, Jewish immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East; and the Bratslav Hasidim - all of whom are viewed in contrast to the surrounding Arabs and urban Israelis

Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-236) and index

Ch. 1. A Small Place in Galilee. The Village. Population: Veterans and Newcomers. Work. Agriculture. Agricultural Beginnings. "Lords of the Earth": The Emergence of a Jewish Yeomanry. Two Yavneelim -- Ch. 2. And Prophecy Departed from Israel: Yavneel's Religion. The Popular Religion of Yavneel. The Religious "Ground Bass" An Emerging Religion of Place. Sephardi Folk Religion. Pork Is Not Tasty, It's Also Not Proper: Religious Beliefs and Practices. Atheists and Believers: Together and Apart. We Are Here Only Because We Are Jews: Religion as a Legitimating Force -- Ch. 3. A City of Bratslav: The Hasidic Invasion. The Whole World Is a Very Narrow Bridge: Goals of the Hasidim. The Hasidim and the "Ethnics" Two Hasidim. Worldviews in Conflict -- Ch. 4. Whatever Happens Here Will Happen in the Whole Country: It's Not What We Hoped For. Memory and Continuity: Memorial and Independence Days. Can We Live with Stones Being Thrown in Wadi Ara?: The "Day of Peace."

Bringing Back the Galut: The Pull of Exile, the Push of Zionism. The Decline of Commitment: Israel as a Failed Utopia. And What of the Village?

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